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If you're interested in raising the bar in 2017, take a close look at my new Mastermind Group. I put this group together to share 30 years of experience and help other lawyers embrace the latest litigation, trial, marketing, and relationship building tools, approaches and techniques. Here you go! http://LegalMinds.lawyer﻿

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I never start my opening statement or closing argument with the traditional introduction or thank you. What I do is incorporate one of these 10 approaches into my first couple of minutes of conversation. Then, I step back and roll over to a short but more traditional intro, thank you, or whatever else is appropriate.

Although this post wasn't written for trial lawyers, it works well for me in court and so I thought I'd share it with you. 10 Ways to Start Your Next Presentation, Speech or Livestreamhttp://bit.ly/mitch-10﻿

A former litigator with more than 20 years of trial experience endorses storytelling at trial but also points to a potential pitfall.

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The past few weeks of sports have delivered some incredible highs and lows.

Like millions of other fans, I stayed awake into the early morning hours, captivated by the cliffhanger ending of Game 7.

I guess I've been a Cubs fan since I was a little kid.

We lived near McHenry, Illinois and my dad loaded up the van with all of the neighborhood kids to take us to Wrigley Field.

I still remember walking into the stadium and experiencing everything for the first time.

The sights, the smells, the excitement leading up to the game... It was a great memory.

It was the first baseball stadium I'd ever been in, the first major sporting event I'd ever been to, and I loved it.

I fell in love with baseball.

My parents were even cool enough (and patient enough) to take me to a Dairy Queen near Chicago where we waited in line for HOURS so I could get Dave Kingman's autograph. (Keep in mind, this was back around 1979, when he made the All-Star team and was the NL home run leader - he was a rock-star and a living legend!)

Yup, I loved baseball.

But then, something odd happened.

In 1994, they cancelled the World Series because the players went on strike.

They turned their back on me (and millions of other fans), so I turned my back on them.

Other than going with my family to see a game in Yankee Stadium before they moved into their new stadium (my dad and my brothers have been Yankees fans their entire lives, so it was a great experience), I doubt I've watched even a dozen games (including Wednesday's World Series finale) in the past twenty years.

It makes me sad to write that, because I used to care so much about baseball.

But once trust is broken, it's almost impossible to regain it.

Compare baseball's level of trust to the level of trust created by the person in the next sporting story.

On the other end of the emotional spectrum, in September we heard the sad news that golfing legend Arnold Palmer had passed away.

Arnold Palmer was a legend.

My interest in golf started when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, after we moved to Florida. We lived near Palm Beach Gardens ("The Golf Capital of the World"), so I saved my allowance, bought a starter set (only 5 clubs: 9W, 7W, 5W, D, Putter!) and got the chance to join my dad on some of the best golf courses in the country.

The lucky thing about living near the PGA Championship Course is that I had the opportunity to see some of the best golfers in the world. I saw the 1983 Ryder Cup, and I got to walk the course following golf legends like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Gary Player.

But Arnold Palmer was different.

When Palmer was playing, you could tell at an instant which hole was at, because there were more crowds following him than any of the other players.

They called it "Arnie's Army."

It didn't matter whether he was leading or trailing...

He always had a crowd.

That's because people loved him.

In one chance encounter, I quickly found out why.

I was probably 11 years old, and watching the players warm up at the driving range. As they finished up and walked out the practice area, I would ask for autographs. This was before celebrity "selfies," and almost everyone was kind enough to sign my little autograph book.

As one of the players finished, I asked him for an autograph.

He brushed me off.

And it wasn't just a brush offf... It was rude enough that other people took notice.

One of the people who noticed was a fellow player on the practice tee.

You can practice your opening statements, examinations, and closing arguments until you've honed them to a fine edge.

You can work with your witnesses until they have the oratory skills of Cicero.

But if jurors don't trust you, or if they don't trust your witness, you won't win.

(Remember Aristotle and the ol' logos, pathos, and ethos trilogy?!?)

At the beginning, jurors don't trust you...

Other lawyers don't trust you...

Even your own client might not trust you.

Trust can be difficult to earn, but if you are the type of person who is trustworthy, if you're the type of person who radiates character, then you can earn their trust.

You can't fake it - you're either trustworthy, or you're not.

(Think about that for awhile... If you're not happy with your answer, you might want to change a few things in your life).

But even if you're trustworthy, and even if you earn the jurors' trust, you will lose it in an instant with a misrepresentation or a stupid mistake, so be careful with what you say and mindful of how you say it.

Be honest, be trustworthy, and keep the jurors's trust. That's the secret sauce to persuasion.

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Elliott Wilcox publishes Trial Tips Newsletter. Sign up today for your free subscription and a copy of his special reports: “How to Successfully Make & Meet Objections” and “The Ten Critical Mistakes Trial Lawyers Make (and how to avoid them)” at www.TrialTheater.com